Book Blog Tour of Daniel Silva's The Rembrandt Affair

Welcome to the TLC Book Tour of  The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva.


The blurb:
Two families, one terrible secret, and a painting to die for ...

Determined to sever his ties with the Office, Gabriel Allon has retreated to the windswept cliffs of Cornwall with his beautiful Venetian-born wife Chiara. But once again his seclusion is interrupted by a visitor from his tangled past: the endearingly eccentric London art dealer, Julian Isherwood. As usual, Isherwood has a problem. And it is one only Gabriel can solve.

In the ancient English city of Glastonbury, an art restorer has been brutally murdered and a long-lost portrait by Rembrandt mysteriously stolen. Despite his reluctance, Gabriel is persuaded to use his unique skills to search for the painting and those responsible for the crime. But as he painstakingly follows a trail of clues leading from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires and, finally, to a villa on the graceful shores of Lake Geneva, Gabriel discovers there are deadly secrets connected to the painting. And evil men behind them.

Before he is done, Gabriel will once again be drawn into a world he thought he had left behind forever, and will come face to face with a remarkable cast of characters: a glamorous London journalist who is determined to undo the worst mistake of her career, an elusive master art thief who is burdened by a conscience, and a powerful Swiss billionaire who is known for his good deeds but may just be behind one of the greatest threats facing the world.

Filled with remarkable twists and turns of plot, and told with seductive prose, The Rembrandt Affair is more than just summer entertainment of the highest order. It is a timely reminder that there are men in the world who will do anything for money.

 Review:
Daniel Silva continues the story of Israeli secret service legend and art restorer Gabriel Allon -- post-retirement in The Rembrandt Affair.  Retirement comes after a distinguished career and a traumatic attack on Allon's family.  He is adamant that all he wants is peace and the company of his wife.  While offers of power and money couldn't tempt Allon to come out of retirement, but Allon agrees to help track down the newly discovered Rembrandt that has suddenly gone missing.  Allon and his wife work together and their search for the painting and their examination of its provenance, leads them to uncover evidence of horrible crimes going back generations. 


I hadn't read any of Daniel Silva's earlier books, but The Rembrandt Affair is a strong read, even without having read any of the earlier novels.   It opens much like a mystery and thriller the characters of Allon, his wife, and the Israeli secret service give the book a unique perspective.  Silva combines art theft, murder, the secret services of the US, England and Israel, and historical details to give us a fascinating read.  Although the crimes described in the book are fiction, the story makes you realize that similar injustices occurred.  Though we might never learn the details of what happened, acknowledging the injustices, even through  fiction, is important.  The Rembrandt Affair  is a fascinating read it also offers more than the usual mystery or thriller.

ISBN-10: 0399156585 - Hardcover $26.9
Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (July 20, 2010), 496 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

About the Author:
Daniel Silva is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Unlikely Spy, The Mark of the Assassin, The Marching Season, The Kill Artist, The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, Price of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules and The Defector. He is married to NBC News Today correspondent Jamie Gangel. They have two children, Lily and Nicholas. In 2009 Silva was appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council.